Supermarket Shopping Tips

10 Rules of Supermarket Shopping

The first step toward eating better in the new year? Navigating the aisles of the grocery store

December 19, 2011

Rule 3: Consider the Recipe

Twinkies, Pop-Tarts, French's Classic Yellow Mustard—they all have their recipes printed right on the package. It's near the Nutrition Facts label, buddy, under the word "ingredients." "If the contents cannot be placed in any part of the universe you're familiar with—animal, vegetable, or mineral—then step away from the box and nobody will get hurt," says Dr. Katz. Here are three companies that have come clean and eliminated certain mystery additives.

Eden FoodsWHAT IT ELIMINATES: Bisphenol AU.K. scientists have linked BPA, a chemical used to line metal cans, with heart disease and diabetes. Worse, a CDC study detected it in the urine of 95 percent of Americans tested. Recently, Eden Foods became the first U.S. producer of BPA-free canned goods.

WHAT IT ELIMINATES: Hydrolyzed proteinOberto's new all-natural jerky line skips this additive, which is chemically similar to MSG. That's good news: A study in Obesity found that people who consumed the most MSG were almost three times as likely to be overweight as MSG avoiders were.

Rule 4: Call Your Rep in Congress

The average U.S. household kicks in about $1,500 in annual subsidies, and the foods we subsidize most are among the least healthy, says Thomas Kostigen, author of The Big Handout. Check out the foods (and nonfoods) your tax dollars support, and then raise hell over the 2012 Farm Bill, headed to Congress soon.

Corn: $77.1 billion

Wheat: $32.4 billion

Soybeans: $24.3 billion

Sorghum: $6.1 billion

Dairy: $4.9 billion

Tobacco: $1.1 billion

Oats: $267 million

Apples: $262 million

Potatoes: $665,698

Blueberries: $207,659

Avocados: $6,984

Tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce: $ 0

U.S. subsidies from 1995 to 2010, according to the Environmental Working Group

Rule 5: Master Your Impulses

Easy-grab items at the market tend to be built from bottom-of-the-barrel ingredients—sugar, starch, and cheap fats. Use these strategies to resist their siren song.

1. GRAB A CARTA study in the Journal of Marketing Research shows that shopping with a basket instead of a cart makes you nearly seven times more likely to purchase vice foods like candy and chocolate. The researchers say that curling your arm inward to carry a basket increases your desire to embrace instant rewards—like sweet foods. With a cart, you tend to extend your arm—a motion associated with avoiding negative outcomes. That makes you more likely to shop smart.

2. AVOID LINESThe longer you're exposed to tempting snacks at the checkout, the more likely you are to succumb to them, say University of Arizona researchers. Avoid the wait by shopping during off-peak hours, such as the middle of the week or late at night.

3. LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME"Children shouldn't have a vote in supermarket decisions," says Greg Critser, author of Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World. About 80 percent of parents report they'll probably buy snacks or frozen desserts if their kids ask for them at the grocery store, according to a 2011 Mintel report.